Albert g



(No Model.) I

w A. G. MEAD.

BUCKLE. 7

No. 478,120. I PatentedJuly 5, 1892 UNITE STATES ALBERT e. MEAD, or BOSTON, MASSAoIIUsETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM B.

PATENT OFFICE.

-H. DOWSE, TRUSTEE.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 478,120, dated July 5, 1892.

Application filed September 28, 1891. Serial No. 406,983. (N'o model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ALBERT G. MEAD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the countyof Suffolk and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Buckles, of which the following is a full specification.

My invention consists of an improvement in buckles for arctics, shoes, and other arti- Io cles, having in view the construction of a simple form of buckle wherein there are but two pieces to engage together in fastening the two straps or fiaps of the article. In most buckles for overshoes and arctics there are at least three pieces entering into the construction. Aside from diminishing th number of parts and otherwise simplifying the construction of my buckle the parts so engage with each other that the two' straps of the overshoe to which the parts or members are respectively attached are drawn tightly together with great ease by reason of the leverage of one upon the other, in the manner hereinafter described in detail.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows in central longitudinal section the two members of the buckle in engagement, but before closing them together. Fig. 2 is a similar sectional viewof the members closed together. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the buckle in the closed position shown in Fig.2. Fig. 4 is a plan View of a modified form of buckle, and Fig. 5 is a sectional View of another modification.

B is a slotted draw-plate, secured to one strap 0 of an overshoe or other article. As shown in the drawings, the end of the strap 0 is passed through an opening at one end of the plate B and fastened back upon itself.

A is a lever-plate, having at one end the hook a. This hook is adapted to enter either of the slots 1) in the draw-plate B and engage with one of the bars 1) between said slots, the hook portion 6!. of the lever forming the 45 fulcrum thereof. The opposite strap D of the overshoe or other article is secured to the lever A near the fulcrum endin any desired manner, as by looping it around the bar a, struck up from the material of the plate A.

In fastening the shoe the hook at on the end of the lever-plate A is placed in one of the slots 1) of the plate B, as shown in Fig, 1, and the lever bent 'down upon the said plate B, as in Fig. 2, the lever turningabout the hook at, which bears against the bar I). By the leverage thus gained the straps O D are tightly drawn together with ease, the tension depending on which of the series of slots 1) the hook a is placed in.

The two plates A and B are preferably provided with means to hold them together against the strain of the straps tending to open them apart. This strain is a slight one,

since it is nearly in the plane of the buckle,

as shown in Fig. 2. In Figs. 1,2, and 3 Ihave shown the plate B as provided with spring cars 19 struck up from the material of the plate B on'the outer edges thereof and rounded inward, being so'arranged-as to spring over the outer edges of the lever-plate A when the same is pressed down, and hold said plate in contact with the plate B against the slight strain of the straps O D, tending to separate them. The buckle may be easily unclasped by placing the thumb under the rounded-up end a of the lever Aand forcing it up from between the spring-ears.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a slight modification of the retaining device, spring-ears b being centrally struck up from the material of the plate B and adapted to engage with a slot a in the lever A.

Again in Fig. 5 another modification is represented, wherein there are spring-ears a struck down from the lever A and adapted to engage with one of the cross-bars of the retaining-plate B.

I claim- 1. A bucklefor shoes and other articles I made in two members, consisting of a drawplate B, provided with a series of slots 12 and intermediate bars I), in combination with a lever A, provided at one end with a hook a, adapted to engage with either of said bars,

one of said members having spring-ears struck up from the material thereof to engage with the other member, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. A buckle for shoes and other articles, I In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my consisting of a draw-plate B, provided with hand.

a resilient stud 19 in combination with a lever A, pivoted and held at one end to the draw ALLER'I MEAD 5 plate B and adapted to engage at its other WVitnesses:

end with said resilient stud b substantially 7M. B. H. DOWSE,

as described.

a E. H. GILMAN. 

